Australian Capital Television v Commonwealth case (Political Advertising Case)
Challenged Commonwealth legislation banning all political advertising on radio and TV during election periods
High Court found this legislation to be invalid as it overrode the implied constitutional freedom of political communication
Implied freedom of political communication
Initially considered a "right" but has since been narrowed by subsequent High Court interpretations to be considered less of an individual right of the people and more of a restriction on parliament's law-making powers
Reason for Freedom of Political Communication
The High Court deemed (by virtue of sections 7 and 24) that the people need to be able to freely communicate about political issues; otherwise, people would not be fullyinformed when making choices about who to elect.
